Ho Ho Hopefully
by pinkrosepictures
Summary: A snowstorm, a barn, a horse named Chestnut...and our favorite crime fighting duo - so many possibilities but all of them lead to Christmas fluff...a lot of Christmas fluff


"Kate?" Rick brushed the snowflakes off his coat as he entered the dark barn.

"Kate, are you in here?" After a week of sleepless nights they had finally caught the killer of a young woman. Her ex-boyfriend had made sure that she never returned from her Christmas shopping in the city. Kate had insisted on driving upstate to tell the victim's family – a husband and a five year old daughter – in person. They had already been through enough, there was no need for them to come to the station. Especially not on Christmas Eve. But after standing in the foyer of their country house, and watching the little girl play under the giant christmas tree, she needed a break, so she had told her partner that she'd meet him by the car in five minutes – that had been 25 minutes ago.

"Don't tell me you're ditching me for that guy," Rick had finally found Kate, and she was busy admiring the resident of the barn – a beautiful brown horse.

"Castle..." She turned around as she heard his voice. "I'm sorry, I forgot that you were waiting for me."

"Well you are my ride," he joined her and petted the animal's strong neck. "So who is your friend?

"His blanket says Chestnut," Kate replied, stroking Chestnut's mane. "Do you think it's hers?"

"Probably," Rick replied. He knew how much this case had gotten to Kate, and how hard

it was for her – especially around the holidays.

"They'll be okay," he added. "She's young."

"It's still gonna suck Castle."

Rick just nodded in agreement and sat down on the hay bales, that were stacked next to Chestnut.

"When I was nine my best friend Bailey and I followed some older boys from school to this lake. It was the first day of Christmas break, and a blizzard had hit the city the night before. It was magical – straight out of a christmas movie," his eyes lit up as he spoke about the memory, but somehow Kate could feel that this wasn't going to be a happy story.

"We had overheard those boys talking about the lake, it sounded so exciting, and we were just two nine year olds looking for the ultimate adventure to start our Christmas break. When we got there they were playing hokey on the ice. We begged them to let us play, too. At first they just laughed, but then this one kid, Chip - awful boy, always took our lunch money even though his parents owned five department stores – shot the puck to the other end of the lake. The ice there was thinner and they were too afraid get it. So they told Bailey and me that they would let us play if we get the puck. We were much smaller than them, so we thought we'd be okay. And we really wanted to play..."

"Something happened to Bailey, didn't it?" Kate interrupted him, by now all her attention was focussed on Rick, she didn't even notice how Chestnut kept nuzzling her.

"We were inseparable. My mom was always doing shows over Christmas, so I spent pretty much every holiday with his family. We had sleepovers on Christmas Eve and stayed up all night looking for Santa. Then fresh pancakes and presents in the morning, before we spent the entire day out in the snow," he couldn't help but smile as he remembered those Christmases. "That year, I spent Christmas backstage at the play my mom was doing."

"I'm so sorry Castle."

"The ice crashed under him, within a split second he was in the cold water. I tried to pull him out, but I couldn't help him. It was too late..."

"If you're trying to cheer me up you're doing a horrible job," Kate joked, but the look in her eyes let Rick know how she really felt.

"My point is," he sighed. "It might take a while, probably even a few years, until that family will be able to fully enjoy Christmas again. But then one day, they're gonna see the first snowflakes and the lights, and suddenly they'll think of all the happy memories: How she decorated the house, and made Christmas cookies, and how she took Chestnut here out for a ride through the fresh snow," with that he got up again and gently patted the horse's back. "Just like I remember how Bailey and I always stole the cookies his mom put out for Santa, well Bailey's dad, and how you remember your mom taking you to the rink," he explained.

"Thank you," Kate replied. "You didn't have to tell me this."

"I wanted to," he said before they exchanged a heartfelt look.

"So..." he cleared his throat. "Do you want a hug?"

"I'm good Castle."

"Can I have one?" He asked, and before she could say anything Chestnut gave her a little nudge, which caused her to almost fall into Rick's arms.

"Good boy," Rick laughed, patting Chestnut, while he quickly wrapped his free arm around Kate.

"You always get what you want, don't you?" She joked.

"Not always," he replied, his eyes reflecting the sincerity of his voice. A sincerity that made Kate want to throw all her caution to the wind.

"You know, if you'd ask me tonight, I don't think I could say no," she said, not once breaking their eye contact.

"Tonight, I don't think I could ask," with that he let her out of the embrace, and simply squeezed her hand, letting her know that he didn't expect anything.

"Ready to go home?" He asked with a smile.

"Yes," she replied, fully aware that he had just invited her to spend Christmas with his family.

"Let's go. Merry Christmas Chestnut!" Rick patted Chestnut's back, before he leaned in to whisper something in the animal's big ear.

"What did you tell him?" Kate asked.

"That's strictly confidential."

"Okay," she rolled her eyes, but this time it was out of amusement instead of the usual annoyance. "Bye Chestnut," with that she gave the horse a little kiss on the nose.

"Awww..."

"Shut up Castle..."

Thanks to the heavy snowfall they didn't get back to the city until after midnight. When they finally arrived at the Loft Alexis and Martha had already gone to bed. Kate's first instinct was to say goodnight and leave, but before she knew it she found herself at his breakfast counter, wearing his reindeer pajama top – he was in a T-shirt and the matching pants – and watching the sun rise over the snow-clad buildings.

"May I present my special Christmas blend to you?" Rick handed her a mug of steaming coffee.

"You just put candy canes into it Castle."

"Who told you my secret?" He asked, pretending to be shocked.

"You, when I helped you with the candy canes after you got them stuck in the blender five minutes ago."

"Fair, but don't tell Alexis, I want her to believe that I imported this from the North Pole."

"What are you going to tell her about us?" Kate asked, suddenly sounding a little worried.

"That you are spending Christmas with us, is there more?"

As on cue Alexis stormed down the stairs, followed by Martha.

"Merry Christmas!" She ran straight into the kitchen to hug her father, but stopped when she saw Kate. "Detective Beckett? Dad, what's going on?" The girl put her hands on her hips and waited for an explanation.

"Oh Kate what a wonderful surprise!" As soon as Martha saw Kate she greeted the younger woman with a warm hug. "This must be a Christmas miracle," She added as she noticed Kate's Christmas morning attire.

"It's not what it looks like, I..." Kate started but Rick quickly interrupted her.

"I promised her the Richard Castle Christmas experience but when we got here last night you were already asleep, so I offered her the guest bedroom, and invited her to celebrate Christmas morning with us."

"You're in for a real treat, did dad already brake the blender? 'Cause it's not Christmas without that..." Alexis joked.

"Very funny. Well now that everyone is awake we should start the festivities, and storm the Christmas tree!" Rick's eyes lit up at thought of diving into the pile of presents.

"Oh, can I open the one from uncle Bailey first?" Alexis asked, as she ran across the room to the tree.

"Not if I get there first," Rick replied ready to join her, but Kate stopped him.

"Uncle Bailey?" She said giving him a questioning - slightly threatening – look.

"Christmas presents from a ghost?"

"I never said he died!" Rick defended himself.

"What are you two quarreling about?" Martha interrupted them.

"He told me a little story about how he lost his best friend on Christmas, when he was only nine..." Kate took a step towards Rick. Usually he would have enjoyed the proximity but right now it was making him uncomfortable.

"I didn't lie! That Christmas really was horrible. You just assumed that he..." Rick wanted to step back but was trapped between Kate and the kitchen counter.

"Kate, I rarely take my my son's side, but I'm sure he had a good reason not to tell you the whole story. And to be fair, that Christmas really was horrible for him. Bailey was in the hospital with pneumonia, and both boys were grounded until Easter. "

"I told Chestnut the truth..." Rick defended himself, and as much as Kate wanted to be mad at him, she just couldn't...

"You're lucky it's Christmas."

"I just wanted to cheer your up," he said, and she knew that he wasn't lying this time.

"I know," she replied and they exchanged a smile.

"Last night, when you said you couldn't ask..."

"Yes?" He looked at her with anticipation.

"It's not last night anymore," with that she leaned forward and closed the last bit of distance between them. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, and was definitely more sweet than sensual – but it still didn't fail to leave Rick speechless.

"Kate, I..." He tried to find the right words.

"Consider this your Christmas present," she said with a smile, and for a moment everything around them stood still.

"You know..." Rick laughed, breaking the tension. "If faking Bailey's death got me this far, just imagine what we'd be doing if he was really dead."

"Okay, I'm taking that kiss back..."

"But to take it back, you'd have to kiss me again," he reasoned.

"That's... whatever," knowing that she had lost this round she gave up and turned around to join Martha and Alexis by the tree.

"Best Christmas ever..." he said with a big smile before he followed her, and joined his family under the Christmas tree.

_XOXOXO_

_So that's it! I hope you all enjoyed my little Christmas story - I certainly enjoyed writing it! And I would love to find some reviews under my Christmas tree ;)_

_And kudos to anyone who knows where the "Tonight I..." Lines come from. _

_I hope you're all having amazing holidays! _

_Peace, Love, and Mistletoe_

_Laura _


End file.
